Document Type

Source Publication

Publication Date

8-2015

Publisher

Australia & New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders

Abstract

Introduction: The onset of eating pathology has commonly been attributed to media influences. However, most of these studies have not included an experimental design and have mainly concentrated on Caucasian samples, with limited research on non-Western populations.

Objective: To assess whether exposure to either objectifying female media images or neutral images (e.g. chairs) had an impact on eating pathology and self-objectification and whether this effect was different for Australian and Asian females.

Method: A total sample of 301 female participants [Caucasian Australians (n=97); Asians grown up in Australia (n=70), Asians currently residing in Australia (n=60) and Chinese living in Hong Kong (n=74)] were exposed to a slideshow of either objectifying women (n=147) or neutral (n=154) images. Variables associated with the objectification framework and eating pathology were assessed through self-report.

Results: State self-objectification was higher in individuals who were exposed to the objectifying media images, regardless of ethnicity (p

Conclusions: The results indicate that self-objectification can be elicited from exposure to objectifying media images in women from varying cultural backgrounds. This understanding is crucial to the development of preventive measures of eating pathology.

Additional Information

Abstract of presentation is also published in "Journal of Eating Disorders", 30(Supp 1), P6. doi: 10.1186/2050-2974-3-S1-P6